Area athletes avoid stress with early signings

Some of the area's top athletes will be among the first to officially remove their names from the recruiting boards of college programs around the country over the next week.

The one-week NCAA National Letter of Intent early signing period begins Wednesday for all sports but football, soccer, track and field, cross country, field hockey and men's water polo.

A national letter of intent is a binding agreement between a prospective student-athlete and an NLI member institution. And for most recruits, the opportunity to sign early is a stress reliever.

"I think it's a benefit to commit and sign early," said Jensen Beach senior Taylor Blatch, who plans to sign his NLI on Friday to play baseball at Florida State. "At one point, I was dealing with a bunch of colleges and it was getting a little stressful, but once I had my mind made up, everything was less stressful. Knowing I am signing early makes it easier, not having to worry about college recruiters or worrying about if I mess up (in a baseball game). I can just go out and play like I played all my life."

Blatch was considering other schools, such as Miami, Florida, Virginia and LSU, but he committed to FSU while visiting this summer.

According to reports from area athletic departments as of Tuesday, eight other area high school students, besides Blatch, are expected to take advantage of the early signing period.

Those reported to be signing Wednesday include St. Edward's lacrosse player Chloe O'Haire (University of Florida), Sebastian River girls basketball player K.P. Pound (Florida International University), Lincoln Park girls basketball player Brandy Montgomery (Auburn University), John Carroll baseball player Sterling Koerner (Florida Gulf Coast) and Vero Beach lacrosse player Lexi Moirano (University of New Hampshire).

Jensen Beach golfer Lucy Robson (University of South Florida) plans to sign her letter of intent Thursday, as does Vero Beach lacrosse player Allie Modica (University of Connecticut). Martin County volleyball player Madison Lydon (Boston College) will sign next week.

Those, like O'Haire, who have been committed to a college for an extended period of time are especially looking forward to officially putting the recruiting process to a close. O'Haire committed to Florida in August 2011.

"The recruiting process for lacrosse is really early, so the whole process is overwhelming going through it so young," O'Haire said. "It relieves a lot of stress to commit early and sign early. I see my friends stressing out about college applications, so it takes pressure off senior year in general.

"I'm really excited to sign with Florida. They have a lot of good players, and they have been a really good program coming out of the gate, so it's exciting to know I will be a part of that program."

Modica and Moirano, who were a part of Vero Beach's seventh straight state final victory in the spring, also committed early in the process. Pound and Montgomery both committed within the last two months.

Some players sign early out of fear they might lose their spot with a particular school if they wait. That wasn't the case for the first batch of area signees.

Blatch said he figured he would find an opportunity somewhere, regardless, but didn't see a need to wait.

"As soon as I stepped on campus, I felt like Florida State was the college I wanted to go to," Blatch said.

NCAA DIVISION I NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT SIGNING DATES

Early signing period for all sports except football, soccer, track and field, cross country, field hockey and men's water polo: Nov. 14-21, 2012